Havergal Brian.

[Sergeant Rock]

....one of whom was an engineer and another a sagger maker's bottom knocker; look it up.

I'm afraid to. Some things should remain unexamined.

Sarge

[Hattoff]

Indeed

[Brian]

I'm afraid to. Some saggy bottoms should remain unknocked.

Fixed

[Sergeant Rock]

Fixed

[Hattoff]

It's not evey day that I type that particular phrase out. Bloody Freud and his slips.

[DaveF]

my friend Michiel Schuijer (try prononouncing that!)

No!!! This is even harder than the "Name That Tune" competition!  But I'm going to take a wild guess: is it "Mikki-ell"?

Dutch names are wonderfully "different", aren't they? (says the man from the nation where men are called Ieuan, Iestyn, Pwyll, Iorwerth, Rhûn etc.)  Considering that Dutch and English are supposed to be the closest living relations, personal names seem to have diverged in late Neolithic times.  I have an old Leonhardt set of the Brandenburgs, which lists the performers on the back as follows:

...
Anner Bylsma
Wieland Kuijken
Frans Bruggen
Ab Koster
Bob van Asperen
And Others

I thought And was such a brilliant exponent of the natural horn that I spent years trawling record shops for any of his other recordings...

Belated birthday wishes, by the way, Johan - welcome to your second childhood.

DF

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

No!!! This is even harder than the "Name That Tune" competition!  But I'm going to take a wild guess: is it "Mikki-ell"?

Dutch names are wonderfully "different", aren't they? (says the man from the nation where men are called Ieuan, Iestyn, Pwyll, Iorwerth, Rhûn etc.)  Considering that Dutch and English are supposed to be the closest living relations, personal names seem to have diverged in late Neolithic times.  I have an old Leonhardt set of the Brandenburgs, which lists the performers on the back as follows:

...
Anner Bylsma
Wieland Kuijken
Frans Bruggen
Ab Koster
Bob van Asperen
And Others

I thought And was such a brilliant exponent of the natural horn that I spent years trawling record shops for any of his other recordings...

Belated birthday wishes, by the way, Johan - welcome to your second childhood.

DF

Thanks for your birthday wishes - yes, I am getting younger by the day!


Michiel isn't as difficult to pronounce, I think - Mi = Me and iel = eel and the ch in the middle is the same as in the German 'ich'. So it's Mecheel... I'll give Schuijer a pass...

Someone is going to be hoisted by a crane?

Having nothing better to do and having my interest piqued by an article about HB's working class background, I embarked on an attempt to trace his family tree. There is no ready made tree that I can find on the internet but there is no point in repeating work already done, does anyone know of such a tree?

I also know that Kenneth Eastaugh's biography went into some detail about HB's immediate ancestors; could some kind person out there scan the relevant pages of that book and send them to me? I am back to the late 1700s on two branches and want to check them.

HB's, unsuccessful, attempts to gain a pension from the British Army after WW1 are now on line as are his abodes in the four censuses, 1881-1911. His immediate ancestors are traceable in the censuses back to 1841, one of whom was an engineer and another a saggar maker's bottom knocker; look it up.

I'm afraid I don't have Eastaugh to hand, and neither do I have a scanner. I could borrow the book when I am in The Hague (Royal Library) and have a look to see what information he has to offer...


As for those saggy bottoms, I am certain Brian inherited something of the trauma of his forebear - whose orchestral 'lower regions' are more rock-solid than Brian's, the 'master of the meaningful bass' (Malcolm MacDonald)?

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Johan, I long ago gave up trying to pronounce Dutch!

However, should I ever visit, I'll give it a better try.

I count on it!

[Hattoff]

Hi Johan,
I was hoping you would reply. I know you are busy at the moment  so don't worry about finding Eastaugh's biography. I shall get a second hand copy, I did have it, but foolishly lent it to someone

I read that HB would wickedly use fifths in the organ's bass to increase the effect, it makes sense, now.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Hi Johan,
I was hoping you would reply. I know you are busy at the moment  so don't worry about finding Eastaugh's biography. I shall get a second hand copy, I did have it, but foolishly lent it to someone

I read that HB would wickedly use fifths in the organ's bass to increase the effect, it makes sense, now.

Well, let's see who gets to his copy first... As for those 'wicked fifths' - another sign of ancestral influence.

[Mirror Image]

Brian fans rejoice! If you've missed this original Marco Polo the first time around now you can buy it in its Naxos incarnation. This CD comes out in late July:

[asin]B0052FG8D6[/asin]

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Thanks, John. I don't think the timing of this reissue is unconnected to the 'Gothic' performance on July 17th.... Symphony No. 20 I consider to be the best thing on this CD. It's a spacious and, especially in its slow movement, moving piece. No. 25 isn't weak, either. The Fantastic Variations are an early work, and very enjoyable. The theme is Three Blind Mice...

[Mirror Image]

Thanks, John. I don't think the timing of this reissue is unconnected to the 'Gothic' performance on July 17th.... Symphony No. 20 I consider to be the best thing on this CD. It's a spacious and, especially in its slow movement, moving piece. No. 25 isn't weak, either. The Fantastic Variations are an early work, and very enjoyable. The theme is Three Blind Mice...

Well I can't wait to hear it, Johan. I missed the original on Marco Polo and the price never seemed right to me when it went out-of-print.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Someone wrote the following at the Unsung Composers Forum:


Re the 4MBS recording of the Havergal Brian Gothic Symphony from Johan.

I hate to say this but unless my ears are playing me tricks, the left and right channels are reversed. I have only downloaded Part 1 from Folder 4, but this MP3 does appear to be reversed. At the concert, the 3 harps were hard left with the horns and the brass/tubas were hard right.Anyone downloading may wish to convert to WAV and reverse the channels for best playback.


I checked, and he is right... (No problem for a Mirror Image, though...)

[Brian]

(No problem for a Mirror Image, though...)

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Here is a fascinating article about the mechanics of recording the Brisbane Gothic:


https://sites.google.com/site/recordingmaninoz/recordingthegothic

[Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich]

Brian fans rejoice! If you've missed this original Marco Polo the first time around now you can buy it in its Naxos incarnation. This CD comes out in late July:

Is the Naxos "Gothic" the same as the Marco Polo?

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Is the Naxos "Gothic" the same as the Marco Polo?

Yes. Though I read somewhere that the sound was slightly improved (which I can't confirm, as I only have the Marco Polo).

[John Whitmore]

I just bought the Naxos 20/25/Fantastic Variations. Very decent playing and recording and worth 6 quid. Andrew Penny is a good pro. Not sure about the music (don't shoot me Johan) and the general standard of string writing but Symphony 20 strikes me as being the best piece on the CD.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I am preparing for the Brianic onslaught on Sunday... Here are two links, one to a Guardian article (not wholly correct), and the other to a review of The Gothic (two mistakes there: Brian sets the Te Deum, and Brahms was 44 when he finished his First).


http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jul/13/gothic-symphony-havergal-brian-proms?INTCMP=SRCH


http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/July11/Brian_Gothic_855741819.htm